Have zigbee and z-wave devices now updating battery levels. My door zigbee shows 87% and put a new battery in and still reports 87%. I found out because battery went dead and I have a notification set for 25% and lower. Friend also has the same issues.
Letting folks know the brand and model of sensor you're having issues with will go a long way to getting better advice.
Also worth noting that battery level % will go up and down depending on the temperture of the battery.
The further away from the hub/repeater a battery powered device is, the bigger the impact it may have on the life of the battery.
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Battery reporting is notoriously inconsistent, though it does depend some on the exact device and battery chemistry.
Also, if you just put in the new battery, it may take some time (depending on device and configuration) to report a new level, not that you'll necessarily see 100 (though I think I do on most of mine, anecdotally).
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Battery life reporting is based upon the battery voltage and the minimal voltage required to operate the device. The voltage is dependent upon the type of battery and the temperature.
At normal room temperature alkaline batteries have a slow decrease in voltage. Thus, the battery life is fairly easy to predict. With lithium metal batteries such as Energizer Ultimate Lithium and lithium coin cells, the battery voltage holds steady for a very long time and then plummets as the battery reaches EOL. That makes predicting battery life quite difficult.
Using high quality batteries will improve your chances of getting good battery life. If you are using no-name Chinese batteries, results are unpredictable.
Temperature also affects batteries. I have a Smartthings multisensor inside my freezer located in the garage to monitor the temperature in case the door is left open or the freezer fails. I can put a new Panasonic coin battery in the device and get a battery reading of 100%. However, as soon as I place it in the freezer, the battery life drops to 0%. However, the sensor keeps transmitting data for a few months.
The best way to monitor life is to check to see when the device last transmitted. You can do this manually using the Last Activity column of the Device page, or you can use. This is what I do. Just sort the Last Activity column and check any that have not checked in recently. However, I think there are apps that will allow you to monitor device status.
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